&nbsp; <font style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"><strong>Legislative Session</strong>: 84(R)</font><br/><br/>

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  <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
  font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>House Bill 4097</span></b></p>
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  <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
  font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>House Author:</span></b><span
  style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>  Hunter et al.</span></p>
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  <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
  font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Effective:</span></b><span
  style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>  6-17-15</span></p>
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  <p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:normal'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
  font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Senate Sponsor:</span></b><span
  style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>  Kolkhorst et al.</span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>            <a name=start></a>House Bill 4097
amends the Water Code and Utilities Code to authorize a person to divert state
water from the Gulf of Mexico or a bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico for desalination
and use for industrial purposes without obtaining a permit from the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), but requires a permit if the point
of diversion is located less than three miles seaward of any point located on
the Texas coast or if the seawater contains a certain concentration of total
dissolved solids.  The bill authorizes TCEQ</span><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> to issue a permit
for the discharge of water treatment residuals resulting from the desalination
of seawater for an industrial use into the portion of the Gulf of Mexico inside
the territorial limits of the state.  The bill provides for the disposal of
water treatment residuals and concentrate produced by the desalination of
seawater in injection wells.</span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:normal'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>            House Bill 4097 requires the
Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), in cooperation with transmission and
distribution utilities and the ERCOT independent system operator, to study
whether existing transmission and distribution planning processes are
sufficient to provide adequate infrastructure for seawater desalination
projects.  The bill also requires the PUC and the operator to study the
potential for seawater desalination projects to participate in existing demand
response opportunities in the ERCOT market.</span></p>

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